Hangzhou, abbreviated as "Hang", anciently known as Lin'an, Qiantang, Wulin, is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhejiang Province, the capital of Zhejiang Province, a sub-provincial city, a mega-city, one of the six ancient capitals, the core city of Hangzhou Metropolitan Area, the economic, cultural, scientific and educational center of Zhejiang Province, as well as one of the central cities of the Yangtze River Delta as determined by the State Council. As of October 2023, Hangzhou has 10 municipal districts, 2 counties, and 1 county-level city under its jurisdiction, with a total area of 16,850 square kilometers, and the Municipal People's Government is located at No. 18, Jiefang East Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou. As of the end of 2023, Hangzhou had a resident population of 12.522 million, with an urbanization rate of 84.2%.
Hangzhou is located in East China, the northern part of Zhejiang Province and the lower reaches of the Qiantang River. The western part of the city belongs to the hilly area of West Zhejiang, with the main mountain ranges such as Tianmu Mountain, while the eastern part belongs to the plains of North Zhejiang, with a low and flat topography and a dense network of rivers; it has a sub-tropical monsoon climate, with distinctive four seasons and abundant rainfall. Hangzhou is the center city of the G60 Science and Innovation Corridor and the core city of the Great Bay Area around Hangzhou Bay approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Government. The 19th Asian Games was successfully held in Hangzhou.
Hangzhou is the first batch of national historical and cultural cities, known as the "famous county in the southeast", the excavation of the Cross Lake Bridge site shows that more than 8,000 years ago, there were human beings living here. The Liangzhu culture of more than 5000 years ago is known as the "dawn of Chinese civilization". Hangzhou has a history of more than 2,200 years since it was established as a county in the Qin Dynasty, and was the capital of the Wu-Yue State in the Five Dynasties and the Southern Song Dynasty in two generations. Hangzhou has many cultural monuments, West Lake and its surrounding area has a large number of natural and humanistic landscape remains, representative of the West Lake culture, Liangzhu culture, silk culture, tea culture, because of the beautiful scenery, known as "paradise on earth" reputation.
In 2023, Hangzhou will realize a GDP of 2005.9 billion yuan, a per capita disposable income of 73,793 yuan, and a general public budget revenue of 261.7 billion yuan.